Pages

What To Eat Now: soya, because new science says it helps prevent cancer

We nutrition professionals aren't known to be a rowdy bunch, not unless someone has slipped some vodka into a kale smoothie and so you wouldn't expect heckling at a nutrition workshop. Yet that's exactly what happened recently whilst an eminent researcher presented work about soya and the incidence of cancer as a well-known medic repeatedly interrupted him.No other plant-based foods have elicited such passion amongst consumers and a handful of my peers, so why all the controversy?

The issue centres on isoflavones, naturally occurring compounds that have a potential theoretical oestrogen-like effect in the human body. Some cells, including those in breast tissue, can be vulnerable to increased oestrogen levels, and based on animal and laboratory studies, phyto-oestrogens, such as isoflavones, do have that effect. However, it is important to note that all human studies to date highlight that isoflavones' actions differ significantly from human oestrogen, or oestradiol.